1. Glycerol Regulates Stratum Corneum Hydration in Sebaceous Gland Deficient (Asebia) Mice 
Joachim W. Fluhr, Man Mao-Qiang, Barbara E. Brown, Philip W. Wertz, Debra Crumrine, John P. Sundberg, Kenneth R. Feingold, Peter M. Elias 
Journal of Investigative Dermatology 
Volume 120, Issue 5, Pages (May 2003)
DOI: /j x
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2. Figure 1
Asebia J1 skin displays hyperkeratosis, epidermal hyperplasia, sebaceous gland hypoplasia, and mast cell activation. Sebaceous glands (seb) are seen adjacent to follicles (large arrows) in wild-type (W) controls (B), but not in asebia J1 (As) skin (A). Asebia epidermis displays not only a thickened SC, but also acanthosis (increased numbers of nucleated cell layers; B, small arrows). Asebia J skin also displays increased numbers of mast cells, with various degrees of degranulation (A, arrowheads). One-half micron, plastic-embedded sections, toluidine-blue stained. Bar: 200 μm.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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3. Figure 2
Asebia J1 SC reveals normal extracellular membrane structures. Comparable SC extracellular lamellar membranes and desmosomes are seen in the SC of asebia J1 (A) and control (N) mice (arrows). RuO4-postfixed. Bar: 0.25 μm.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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4. Figure 3
Barrier recovery is normal, but asebia J1 mice display abnormal SC hydration.Panel A: Permeability barrier was disrupted by sequential tape stripping in asebia J1 (n=6) versus wild-type (n=4) mice (three to four sites were assessed on each animal, yielding a total n of 10–12). TEWL rates were raised to ≥4 mg per cm2 per h, and then percent barrier recovery was compared 3 and 6 h after acute disruption. The differences were not statistically significant at either time point. Panel B: Hydration of SC was measured by electrical capacitance with a corneometer, and expressed in arbitrary units ±SEM. The differences between asebia J1 (n=12) and control (n=8) mice are highly significant (p<0.0001).
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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5. Figure 4
Asebia J1 SC displays a significant reduction in nonpolar lipid fractions.Panel A: Full-thickness mouse skin was excised from shaved asebia J1 (n=4) and wild-type (n=6) mice. The skin samples were incubated with EDTA, followed by trypsin, as described in Methods. Isolated nonpolar lipids were then fractionated, charred, and quantitated as described in Methods. Equal amounts of lipids were applied to each lane. Panel B: Isolation, fractionation, and quantitation of SC lipids were the same as described for Figure 5. Each species is presented as mean (μg per mg SC)±SEM. Whereas controls (n=6) are represented by open bars, the results for asebia J mice (n=4) are indicated by the shaded bars. The differences for wax diesters, wax monoesters, and sterol esters are highly significant.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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6. Figure 5
The hydration abnormality in asebia SC is not corrected by another humectant. Contralateral flanks of asebia 2 J mice were treated with 10% glycerol or 10% urea versus water alone, as described in Methods (n=5–6 sites each). Results are expressed as mean±SEM. *p<0.05; **p<0.001.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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7. Figure 6
Abundant lipase activity is present in sebaceous glands and the outer SC of wild-type skin. (A) Normal sebaceous glands display abundant lipase activity (arrows) both around and in association with lipid droplets (LD). (B) Normal skin incubated for lipase with the added specific inhibitor tetrahydrolipstatin (thls). (C) A band of intense lipase activity (arrows) is present in the outer SC (OSC) of wild-type animals. Low levels of activity also are present in the underlying lower SC (LSC) and stratum granulosum (SG). Bars: 0.75 μm.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
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8. Figure 7
Asebia SC and follicles reveal normal lipase activity. Lipase activity is present around corneocytes in nascent hair shafts (A, arrows), and at the interface of the follicular epithelium with the nascent hair shaft in asebia J1 skin (B, arrows). Lipase activity also is present focally in the mid to outer layers of asebia SC (D, closed arrows), and at the SG–SC interface (D, open arrows). (C) Asebia tissue sample, incubated for lipase with added specific enzyme inhibitor tetrahydrolipstatin (thls). H, hair shaft. Bars: 0.75 μm.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology  , DOI: ( /j x)
Copyright © 2003 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions